The Sun Herald reports the O'Neal family has experienced some zoning problems, but Rafe O'Neal, co-owner of the new FunTime, believes the park should be open by the end of May or early June across road from the original park destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

"Everybody's kind of concerned we haven't turned soil yet," said Romy Simpson, O'Neal's business partner and FunTime co-owner. But she and O'Neal say the work will go fast after they receive final clearance from the city, which is working with them to bring back an amusement park that had entertained generations.

The amusement park will once again feature adults' and children's rides, a go-cart track, bumper boats and the popular miniature golf course with concrete figures.

A new addition will be a picnic pavilion where families can dine from food trucks. Simpson said they are hoping three or four food trucks will offer a variety of menus.

The park will have a retro design, with about one-third of the miniature golf figures returning from the original park. They are being stored in the country right now.

Rafe O'Neal's uncle, Ray O'Neal, built the original sculptures and is busy designing new ones. A dinosaur is in the plans "just because," Ray O'Neal said. The dinosaur will be a spiritual cousin to the prehistoric creature that loomed over Biloxi's tourist strip before the storm.

As a 16-year-old, Ray O'Neal started work for Ken Davis at an amusement park that opened in the 1950s at the foot of Veterans Avenue on the beach.

"This amusement business is all I've ever done, just about," said Ray O'Neal, who worked at his first amusement park at age 16 and is now 68. "I've never had a real job."